A bearing conventionally includes an outer race and an inner race between which a rolling chamber is delimited. The bearing also includes rolling bodies disposed in the rolling chamber and retained by a bearing cage.
The bearing may be associated with a measuring device including a sensor adapted to measure a parameter characteristic of the operation of the bearing, such as a temperature, a speed, an acceleration, a level of lubrication, a chemical or physical parameter of the lubricant such as its conductivity or its acidity, a vibratory or acoustic amplitude, for example.
The measuring device is generally disposed outside the bearing, for example in a casing receiving the outer race of the bearing or on a shaft receiving the inner race of the bearing. The measurements are therefore influenced by the environment of the bearing. Moreover, a space must be provided for positioning the measuring device in the vicinity of the bearing. Examples of integrating measuring devices are shown in WO 2010/0133924 A1 and WO 2010/088964 A1.
In order to deduce the overall size of the instrumented bearing including the measuring device, it has been proposed in WO 2006/083736 A1 to include the measuring device at least partially in the bearing cage. One of the drawbacks of this solution is that it is difficult to transmit the signals from the device to the outside and to be able to supply the device with power.